1. Field of Use
This invention relates to the data processing field and more particularly to the identification of computer subsystems comprised of several assemblies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As an example, data processing systems connect peripheral devices to a peripheral controller via a peripheral adapter. The adapter includes logic to match the device logic to the controller logic. The controller in turn is connected to a central processing unit, a main memory or even possibly an input/output processor which in turn may be connected to the main memory or the central processing unit.
Data processing systems of the 1950's would have a peripheral controller and a matching peripheral adapter in separate cabinets. They would be cabled together and the peripheral controller would be cabled to a memory cabinet or a central processor cabinet.
In the 1960's peripheral controllers and their matching peripheral adapters were mounted in drawers. A single cabinet would have a number of drawers including peripheral controller drawers and peripheral adapter drawers. The matching controllers and adapters were connected by ribbon cable terminating in edge connectors.
In the 1970's controller logic was mounted on a single printed circuit board and its matching adapter was mounted on an adjacent board. They both plugged into a printed circuit backboard.
In the 1980's controller logic is mounted on a single printed circuit board called a "motherboard" and the adapters called "daughterboards" are plugged into connectors on their corresponding motherboard. During factory assembly very often the incorrect daughterboards are plugged into motherboards, and the system problems generated are not found until the system test operation. This was not a problem in the past since either cabinets, drawers or separate boards were readily matched since they were large and readily identified and there weren't too many variations of design. However present day designs may have many vendor's peripheral devices with their special adapter connected to a controller. Also a controller may have a number of adapters (daughterboards) plugged into it. In addition, there may be many versions of the controller board (e.g., 16 bit wide data path, 32 bit wide data path, etc.).